Wednesday, January 2, 2013

I took in several minutes of last week's public Kwanzaa celebration in Milwaukee's City Hall rotunda when I went downtown to pay my property tax bill.

A predominantly African-American crowd, some seated, listened to drumming, testimonials and other presentations; Common Council President Willie Hines was in attendance, and it was a pleasant and inspiring gathering enjoyed by people in the tax payment lines, too.

Calling it a holiday that "almost no black people today care about,"
state Sen. Glenn Grothman is characterizing Kwanzaa as a false holiday
conjured up by a racist college professor and perpetuated by hard-core
liberals.

"Why must we still hear about Kwanzaa?" the Republican lawmaker from
West Bend asked in a press release. "Why are hard-core left wingers
still trying to talk about Kwanzaa — the supposed
African-American holiday celebration between Christmas and New Year’s?"

Over at the Daily Beast, Michelle Goldberg writes
a detailed account of the repeal [of Wisconsin equal pay litigation rights] and the effect it will have in the
state. Goldberg also interviews Republican state senator Glenn
Grothman, who was an enthusiastic fan of repealing the law.

According
to Grothman, not only is there no actual pay gap between the sexes, if
there was one it wouldn’t matter anyway. After all, men need money more
than women do, since they have families to support. “You could argue
that money is more important for men,” he told Goldberg. “I think a guy
in their first job, maybe because they expect to be a breadwinner
someday, may be a little more money-conscious. To attribute everything
to a so-called bias in the workplace is just not true.”

NPR did a story this week on the declining observance of Kwanzaa that bears out some of what Grothman says:http://www.npr.org/2013/01/01/168388526/significances-of-kwanzaa-changes-over-the-years

I don't appreciate Grothman's desire to tell others what to do, often in offensive ways. But he's correct that Kwanzaa is more honored by calendar makers and politically-correct officials than it is by real individuals and families.

Anon 6:52 a.m. Hardly. Events in the Rotunda are approved by the Council for an organization. The public is welcome always to watch, and participate if invited. That may have taken [lace; I could not stay too long. This was routine. Sorry...

Thanks for your point on the event being approved in the Rotunda and I'm certain it was a peaceful event by those who celebrated Kwanza.

But more to my point and I think perhaps that of Senator Grothmann - As a white man of most likely European decent, what would you celebrate? That is precisely his argument which lies more to the King dream speech.

As long as US citizens continue to use color and national origin as the reason for a cause, the Dream speech will echo hallow. I'm afraid that will be until end time.

I've seen nothing in 50 years that would change my mind. We've made no progress to unite the human condition.

I suspect this guy is there to make other Republicans look moderate. Also, he is a distraction from real issues. He is incorrect about Kwanza and should only speak about his own traditions, not the traditions of a group that he doesn't know anything about. Surely there is a range of opinions within African-American communities about Kwanza, however, it is not up to a state senator to decide what people will celebrate and what they won't celebrate. It is good for everyone to know the basics about holidays celebrated in the state, but in a positive way.

Milwaukee River empties into Lake Michigan

Wisconsin wind farm, east of Waupun

Twitter

What water, wetland protection is all about

"A little fill here and there may seem to be nothing to become excited about. But one fill, though comparatively inconsequential, may lead to another, and another, and before long a great body may be eaten away until it may no longer exist. Our navigable waters are a precious natural heritage, once gone, they disappear forever," wrote the Wisconsin Supreme Court in its 1960 opinion resolving Hixon v. PSC and buttressing The Public Trust Doctrine, Article IX of the Wisconsin State Constitution.